thoughts on writing, advocacy and restoration

New Year, New Deal… maybe?

Although I’m writing from balmy Las Vegas I’ve been thinking about all of my writers back home. It was very strange to find myself walking around the plastic imitations of snow and icicles in all the Christmas décor here, knowing I’d just left the real stuff. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with friends and family.

As we close out another year and head blindly into the next it is often a time of reflection and reinvention. And yet that is especially hard with the uncertainty currently facing us as writers. The best thing we’ve seen this year is the strong solidarity among writers and actors and other industry professionals, which I think has only increased in recent weeks. I want to encourage any of you who may be discouraged or worried or just sad. I feel those too, we all do. It is a hard fight we face, but we must endure and we must win.

While there’s no news on negotiations, there are a few interesting things coming up this week. The return of Letterman (with writers and SAG guests) and the return of Leno with not much. How many show can you do with the guy from the San Diego Zoo before the audience leaves in droves? Some have criticized the wisdom in making separate deals with producers like Letterman’s Worldwide Pants, but almost everyone whom I’m talking to and reading think it will be a good thing for us. It has the potential to turn up the pressure on NBC and the other very quickly and gives us a mouthpiece through Dave to further the public education campaign. Also look for an amazing display of “Skytyping” done by fans4writers.com during the Rose Parade. It’s said they will have a pro-writers skywriting message that will be visible for 400 square miles over the parade. Let’s see if the networks cover that!

You’re a great bunch, and I’m happy that we have had this opportunity to get to know each other. Strike or no, I’m looking forward to building and enjoying this community in 2008.